News from Saudi Arabia...

...courtesy of the Economist (Dec 9 issue):

When the government was short of cash, the royals appeared to consider liberal reforms, which many Saudi journalists and businesspeople were demanding. But now that their money worries have lifted, and their worries about security have grown more acute, they have gone back to their old reactionary habits.

In March, a group of reformists were jailed for calling for a constitutional monarchy. Three are still awaiting trial. In September, the government issued an edict banning all state employees, which means most working Saudis, including academics, from publicly questioning state policy. In October it announced that long-promised elections for 178 town councils, now due in February, would be for only half of their seats, with women entirely excluded. Few people have bothered to register to vote, prompting one columnist to lament that Saudis show less interest in polls than in the stock index.